EU: On 17 January the European Parliament called for a moratorium on the use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions by EU and NATO members.
NATO: Chairman of the NATO Chiefs of Military Medical Services Committee Maj Gen Roger van Hoof said on 16 January that his committee "cannot find any increase in blood cancers or deaths in soldiers …deployed to the Balkans". NATO says that there is no need for a moratorium on the use of DU as its members are not involved in any conflicts at present. A NATO working group has been established to act as an information clearing-house to include non-NATO contributors to Kosovo Force and Stabilisation Force operations.
UN: Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Carle Del Ponte says that she would be willing to consider charges on the use of DU, but that there would need to be "concrete scientific evidence" that there had been a violation of an "article or convention". The UN Environmental Programme says that the DU rounds fired in Kosovo also contained traces of more radioactive enriched uranium.
Australia: The government said on 11 January that it would screen all armed forces personnel who had served in the Balkans.
Belgium: The government will screen its veterans, but a group of military veterans said that they were planning a civil action against the MoD. Lawyers acting for a group of Belgian veterans said on 18 January that they had filed the first of three suits against the government seeking compensation.
France: The government said that five of its Balkan veterans are being treated for leukaemia. It is also screening its veterans. France says that tests on cancer victims show no traces of DU.
Germany: After initial denials of any possible risk the German MoD also last week gave into popular pressure for a screening programme. On 9 January it joined Italian calls for a moratorium on DU use while there is further investigation into the risks. However, Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping continued to emphasise that there was no established risk.
Greece: Screening its veterans, but has rejected strong domestic calls to withdraw its troops from the region. The armed forces confirmed that one Balkans veteran has died from leukaemia. It also said on 8 January that it would withdraw DU ammunition from its inventory
Ireland: Will be screening peacekeepers who have served in the Balkans. There are currently 100 Irish soldiers in Kosovo and 50 in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Around 700 have been on duty in the Balkans.
Italy: Instigated the current querying of DU munitions when it was discovered that seven of its soldiers that had served in the Balkans had developed leukaemia. This resulted in calls from within NATO for an investigation into DU risks and on 9-10 January Italy called for a moratorium on the use of DU while an investigation takes place. On 18 January Italian Defence Minister Sergio Mattarella told parliament that the number of cases of ill soldiers being investigated was 31, including eight who had died.
Norway: On 5 January, the Norwegian armed forces said that it would send all personnel that had served in the Balkans a letter asking them to report any illnesses that could be related to DU exposure. On 8 January, the Norwegian government said that it would screen at least 20,000 soldiers. About 400 soldiers from the Telemark Battalion have refused to sign contracts to start service in the region in June until they receive clarification of the risk from DU.
Portugal: The country was among the first NATO members to begin screening its 10,000 military and civilian Balkan veterans after initial fears late last year. It has sent a scientific team to Kosovo to investigate. One Portuguese soldier has been diagnosed with cancer since returning from a tour in Kosovo.
Russia: Russian peacekeepers have been screened for health problems, but the government said that no problems associated with DU had been found.
Spain: According to local press reports seven Spanish soldiers and one civilian have been diagnosed with cancer since returning from tours in the Balkans; two of them have since died. The Spanish authorities were also quick to act on fears at the beginning of the year and offer screening to Balkans veterans. On 16 January Defence Minister Frederico Trillo told parliament that DU was not to blame for cases of cancer in the military. 32,000 Spanish soldiers have served in the region.
Sweden: Government officials said on 8 January that all soldiers who had served in the Balkans would be informed of the possible health risks and asked to fill in a questionnaire about their health. About 10,000 Swedish peacekeepers have served in the Balkans since 1993.
Switzerland: The Swiss MoD said on 7 January that all 900 of its Balkan veterans would be screened after the local press reported that one veteran had died in 1998 from leukaemia. Swiss experts helping the UN Environment Programme investigation said that they have also found traces of highly radioactive plutonium in the debris of DU munitions fired in Kosovo.
Turkey: Screening its Balkan veterans, but the Turkish Armed Forces said that initial tests had showed no evidence of exposure to DU.
UK: The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has maintained that there is no evidence to link DU exposure to the health problems being reported by some 1990-91 Gulf War and Balkan veterans. However, stories in the UK press on 11 January reported the existence of a leaked MoD document written four years ago that warned of increased risk of radiation exposure for soldiers working in vehicles that had been hit by DU rounds. The MoD played down the report, saying that it was a draft written by a "trainee" and contained scientific inaccuracies. On 15 January Secretary of State for Defence Geoffrey Hoon told parliament that the MoD had always acknowledged the low-level risk of DU, including the "risk to soldiers who go into the burned out shell of a tank immediately after it has been hit by a depleted uranium shell". On 8 January there were 2,265 UK service personnel in Bosnia and 3,351 in Kosovo. The government cited a Manchester University study that observed that only 64 of 53,000 armed forces personnel who served in the 1990-91 Gulf War have died from all causes, while 68 in a control group have died.
Ukraine: On 5 January the Ukrainian government said that it would screen its Balkans veterans. On 8 January President Leonid Kuchma called for a moratorium on the use of DU ammunition.
USA: After studies conducted in 1999 and 2000 the US Department of Defense (DoD) maintains it has found no link between DU and health risks to military personnel. The DoD acknowledged that the Department of Energy had found that the US stockpile of DU munitions did contain trace amounts of transuranic elements, including plutonium, but that this only raised the "already negligible" radiation levels by less than 1%.
Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland: Also screening peacekeepers who have served in Bosnia and Kosovo.